I’m slowly working through getting my small Asian beauty haul up, so I’ll be unusually productive for a few weeks! Can I keep it up?! (Don’t answer that… :-_-: ) With the exception of the Etude House Nymph Aura Volumer, these were products that I’ve been lemming for a while and finally decided to get. That’s a kind of recurring theme with me. These days, I very, very, very rarely run out and get the newest product as soon as it drops. I know it might not seem like it, seeing as how I have an… extensive makeup stash *cough*, but I’m actually very frugal with my money. I agonize over purchases for days, if not weeks, and I almost always wait to see if other bloggers have gotten their reviews up so I can check to see what they think before parting with my cash. Today’s review is about the Etude House Baby Choux Base, a product that’s well beloved among Asian beauty fans.

Overview

The Etude House Baby Choux Base is a face primer and color corrector which comes in three shades: #01 Mint Choux, #02 Berry Choux and #03 Peach Choux. This was originally released with their Sweet Recipe collection in Spring 2013, and at the time, the primer came in these absolutely adorable if not a little impractical pots. To see what those looked like, as well as see swatches of the other shades, please check out Bethany’s post here or Laura’s post here (/r/AsianBeauty redditors shoutout!). Below are the “directions” (actually they’re rather nonsensical and useless, aren’t they?) and ingredients list.

Although I was taken by the cute packaging of the original release, I hesitated for two reasons: I’m not a fan of jar packaging for anything but night creams (and even then, only begrudgingly) plus I wasn’t sure if the product was limited edition. Don’t you hate when you fall in love with a product and it is limited edition or gets discontinued? (Looking at you, Dior HydrAction Skin Tint, Urban Decay Graffiti liner et al…) Luckily, the base was so popular that Etude House not only kept it in their permanent line, but also revamped the packaging to a much more user- and travel-friendly tube. Shockingly enough, this change also came with a product increase: from 25g (0.88 oz) in the original jar to 35g (1.23 oz) in the tube. Well, actually, I think the price also went up a bit… :nod:

As mentioned above, the color correction comes in the tint of each shade. Mint is used for cancelling out redness, the Berry for warming up pale, cool-toned skin, and the Peach for brightening up sallow skin.

Image from Etude House International

I was really interested in the Berry Choux, just because I rarely see berry/pink-colored base products, but I decided to go with the Peach as my skin is yellow-toned. The base is meant to smooth the surface of your skin, and give a moist, plump appearance. It also has SPF 25 PA++, although of course you should never rely on makeup products for SPF alone. In addition, the Peach Choux is scented with the most delicious scent of — what else? — peaches. It’s sweet, light and crisp, but it fades rather quickly so if you’re sensitive to scents, you shouldn’t have a problem. I’m not normally a fan of peach scents/flavors, but I love this one!

I paid $15 after shipping for this from eBay, but later found it cheaper on Amazon with Prime shipping. :-_-: The old jar version was a bit cheaper, going by other bloggers’ reviews, usually running around $7-10. So, it seems this one went up a few dollars to compensate for the amount increase. Even accounting for markups, I wouldn’t pay much more than $15 for it, though.

Performance and Use

The base comes out a very, very pale creamy peach shade with no shimmer. It has a relatively runny texture, and is not as thick as some other primers I use (e.g., Too Faced Primed and Poreless). It applies very nicely without any excessive tugging, and dries down relatively quickly.

On my skin, which is roughly NC35-40, it does leave behind a faint white cast. I was worried about this when I first heard about the Etude House Baby Choux Base, but in practice, it isn’t that big a deal. If you’re much darker than me, though, I think it might be a problem. In the below swatch, I blended out the Etude House Baby Choux Base to the right. It’s more noticeable here because I overdid it a little — on my face, it’s much less noticeable.

I have worn this fairly regularly for the last month, and I’ve come to several conclusions.

First, the base does as promised and smooths out the surface of my skin. It creates a nice, even canvas for my base makeup without affecting the base shade too much.

Second, it does brighten up my skin, but not in a whitening way. Although it leaves behind that faint white cast, my foundation basically cancels out that whiteness. However, it does grant an undertone to my makeup that makes my face look healthier and more alive. I wore it in my Etude House Nymph Aura Volumer review, although you won’t be able to see a comparison as I had it all over my face. I especially like it, then, for foundations that can give your face the “corpse effect.” You know, the kind that make your face look so uniformly even, matte and dull that you look like you belong in a morgue? Yeah.

Third, although it wasn’t as long-lasting as other primers, it did help to extend the longevity of my makeup by quite a bit. It does have a few silicones in it, namely cyclopentasiloxane — this silicone is very efficacious and non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic, but regardless, some people have a sensitivity to this silicone in particular. I personally don’t, but I know many people stay away from it.

Fourth, if my skin is not very well moisturized, it can look a bit dry and almost cakey. The fine lines under my eyes are particular problem areas. To counter this, make sure your skin is well moisturized and that you blend very well. This is not a primer you need to overdo. Use a light hand to avoid the cakey look.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t holy grail material for me, but I really like this primer. It goes on nicely, and helps my makeup to last longer. In my head, I’ve been dubbing this the “wake up primer.” :oh: That is, if I’m feeling rather dull and sickly, I’d reach for this first to give my face that little oomph to make it come alive. It isn’t nearly as blatant as highlighters and shimmery bases (e.g., MAC Strobe Cream, Missha BB Boomer) so it’s a great option for day or work looks.

It’s fairly inexpensive, although as with all Asian beauty products, if you don’t have in-person access to Etude House, you’ll need to order online and be prepared for markup and shipping fees.

Overall, this is

Chuchu Approved!

:aha:

Have you tried the Etude House Baby Choux Base before? Even if it seems weird to pair makeup with food, I have an avowed weakness for desserts and pastries in particular, so they got me good…